Can-opener



W. VOGEL.

CAN OPENER. APPLlcAnoN man Auw?. 1920.

LSL@ Patented-June 7,1921,

PATENT @EPIC WILLAM VOGEL, OF NEW' YORK, N. Y.

CAN-OPENER.

nearest.

To all whom t may concer/n Be it known that l, VVILLLAM VOGEL, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the borough of Manhattan, county, city, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Can- Openers, described and claimed in the annexed specification.

This invention relates to can openeis, of the type employed to open cans, the covers of which have to be rolled back and thereby forcibly torn loose from the body of the can.

An object of the invention is to provide an improved can opener as a permanently reusable -tool of this type, which may be manufactured at minimum cost -and preferably by automatic machinery such as a punching or stamping machine.

Other objects of the invention reside in the improvement of the details of construction of such a can opener.

This will all better be understood by reference to the illustrative embodiment of the invention described in the specification in connection wth the accompanyingdrawings which form a part hereof, and which are set forth merely for purposes of illustration and not limitation. Like characters designate corresponding parts in the drawings in which- 'Figure 1 is a perspective view;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the tool with parts broken away and drawn to an enlarged scale 5 Fig. 3 'is a side elevation with parts shown in. section and otherwise corresponding to Fig. 2;

Fig. 4f is a view corresponding to Fig. 3 but showing the j aw member before its assemblage; and

Fig. 5 is a sectional view with parts shown in elevation of the assembled tool.

It is usual practice to provide a key having a closed ended slot to engage the lip of cans, the tops of which are to be ripped loose by rolling them back about the key, but it has been found in practice that the top of the can usually breaks loose before it has been completely severed from the can, with the key wrapped up in the enveloping sheet-metal so that it cannot be used again. One tool disclosed in the patent to Arnold, No. 1,095,369, patented May 5, 1914 has been disclosed in an attempt to overcome the disadvantages of the usual key for opening cans but this Arnold tool is costly to manu- Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed .August 17, 1920.

Patented June '7, 1921.

Serial No. 404,124..`

facture as it requires the employment of a special casting` or forging which must be end slotted. In carrying out my invention, I have designed a better tool in an operative sense than that of Arnold and in addition one which may be manufactured at much less cost.

A flat blade 1 is stamped out of sheetmetal such as sheet steel, and extends rearwardly into the shank 2, to which an operatino handle 3 may be fitted and secured as by the pin 4c. rIhe forward end of the blade 1 has the tapering operating portion 5, at the rear of which is provided a perforationp, preferably rectangular and preferably having flaring walls 7 which are toward the side 80 of the shank 1. The flaring may be provided by suitably shaping the punch which operates in the stamping of the blade blank. A jaw member 8 likewise stamped from sheet metal such as sheet steel which may be the same stock from which the blade 1 is stamped, has a butt portion 9 provided with an outstanding boss 10, adapted to fit the perforation 6 of the blade 1. A forwardly tapering jaw 11, the surface 12 of which is offset from the surface 13 of butt 9, parallels the surface 14 of operating end of blade l, to provide the open ended slot 15.

An outward flaring for the slot 15 may be provided at the nose 16 to provide an entrance mouth 17 for the lip of the can top. As shown, it is preferred that the nose 16 terminate just short of the nosev 21 for the operating end 5 of blade 1. This facilitates picking up the lip of the can top.

The general forward taper of the entire operating end A of the tool facilitates the removal of the tool from a can cover, after same has been rolled loose from the can.

If desired, one or more additional perforations 60 and cooperating bosses 100 may be provided for the butt 9 as indicated in F ig. 5, although it is to be understood that boss 10 may be of any desired longitudinal extent. The beveling` of the operating end A may be formed automatically with an emery grinder and is preferred as it provides an initial sharp bend to the cover lip helping to hold same attached to the tool. ever the beveling` may be omitted, entirely with the finished configuration of the tool solely such as may be imparted by the punching or stamping operation upon the two parts of the tool, the blade and the jaw member.

How-

What I claim and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent is:

1. A can-opener comprising a stamped sheet metal blade having a fiat relatively broad shank tapering forwardly at its 0perating end and having a perforation in said shank; a stamped sheet metal jaw ineinber having a butt portion provided With a boss tting through said perforation and riveted therein and having a javv paralleling, but offset from said operating end to provide an open ended slot for the entrance and exit of the lip of a can to be opened.`

2. A can-opener comprising a stamped sheet-metal blade having a fiat relatively broad shank tapering forwardly at its operating end and having a central rectangular perforation in said shank; a stamped sheet- Inetal jaw member having` a butt portion lcentrally overlying said shank with the butt portion provided With a boss fitting through said perforation and riveted therein and having a jaw forwardly tapered, odset from said operating end extending for- Wardly and adjusted thereto and providing an open ended slot for the entrance of the lip of a can t0 be opened.

In Witness whereof, have signed my naine to this 'specification this 6th day of August, 1920.

WILLAM VOGEL. 

